Agenda item

Members are asked to note the contents of the Early Years and School Performance in 2017 report.

1.    Patrick Leeson introduced the report which provided a summary of the Kent Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Assessments, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 test outcomes (SATs), and GCSE and Post-16 results for 2017.

a)    In response to comments and questions, Patrick Leeson said that 92% of the schools in Kent were good or outstanding and 93% of children in Kent went to a good school. He said that results in 2017 were positive and had improved compared to 2016. 98% of Early Years settings in Kent were good or outstanding and a good level of development had been made and was above the national figure. He discussed the gender gap and explained that nearly half of boys moving onto post-16 education did not receive good GCSE results. The new progress measure measured the progress made by pupils in all subjects, this decreased slightly in 2017 as did levels of attainment. He said that these gaps were supported by Pupil Premium and Free School Meals with a strong focus to try and close the gaps, use the Pupil Premium effectively and to ensure that children receiving Free School Meals do well and make progress. He said that although the gaps remained wide, the actual attainment of pupils on Free School Meals had improved within the last 3 years. He said the outcomes for Children In Care (CIC) had improved greatly in the Early Years foundation stage in 2017 and that it was important that these children did well.

b)    In response to comments and questions, Patrick Leeson said there was a wide range of support needed to help children develop and progress. He said that the emotional wellbeing and resilience of children needed to be addressed and said that school should not just be about passing exams. He said that one of the largest difficulties Kent faced was having too many adults that were poorly skilled and had very few qualifications. He said it was important that all children pass Maths, English and ICT to ensure they are able to get a good job when they transition from a child to a young adult. He said that poorer children should be given the opportunity to succeed and have a better chance in life, it was critical that these children did develop these skills in school and to make sure the schools expectations are high.

2.    Roger Gough (Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education) said that although Key Stage 2 movement had been significant and very positive, Key Stage 4 had experienced particular challenge to vulnerable pupils due to change in the assessment process. He said that there were major gaps which needed to be addressed, although overall good progress had been made.

3.    Andrew Ireland said that children that were in care for any period of time would have to make up for severe early life and education experience gaps. He said that Kent were working very carefully with those vulnerable groups to help them overcome neglect and abuse.

4.    Patrick Leeson said that poverty can be damaging to children’s education and said it was important to look at what might be happening in a child’s life. He said that the reason some children lack spoken language skills is because they may not have grown up in a family where there was lots of opportunity to develop curiosity, get involved in conversations and develop their brains in order to help them become more proficient learners.

5.    RESOLVED that the report be noted.